All of Greater Victoria can share in the Saanich Peninsula’s Kraft Hockeyville good fortune in a draw to watch the Vancouver Canucks play the San Jose Sharks.
The Panorama Recreation Centre, winners of the 2015 Kraft Hockeyville, announced details for a lottery to win tickets to watch the Canucks and the Sharks in a pre-season game on Sept. 21.
That game, however, will be at the Q Centre in Colwood, with its 2,300 permanent seats. Panorama can accommodate only about 500 people for any one game. All hockey fans can get a chance to attend.
On April 4, Panorama Recreation Centre outvoted nearest competition Chatham-Kent, Ont., with a vote of 1.1 million to 670,000 to win the Kraft Hockeyville annual contest.
There’s no such thing as one-person, one-vote in Kraft Hockeyville, and some local fans estimated they voted as many as 14,000 times.
As winner, Panorama also gets $100,000 for upgrades to its arena.
The draw for tickets will be open to everyone, even if Saanich Peninsula residents will be given a little edge with an eligibility for extra tickets.
A total of 788 tickets will be raffled off to residents of the Saanich Peninsula, while 376 will be raffled off to supporters from outside.
The remainder of the seats have been reserved by Panorama Recreation for minor hockey league players and officials. Also, the NHL and media have reserved blocks of seats for officials and camera sight lines.
Melanie Alsdorf, acting program services manager at Panorama, said people at the recreation centre are all “super excited” about the upcoming event.
“We’ve been working on all the details for months,” said Alsdorf.
Fans who don’t win seats to the game might get chances to win seats to watch a game-day practice. The NHL, however, has not fully agreed yet to open the practices.
To enter the ticket draw, fans must go to Panorama Recreation Centre, 1885 Forest Park Dr., North Saanich, to pick up a ballot on:
• Saturday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
• Saturday, Sept. 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sunday, Sept. 6, noon to 6 p.m.
Winners will be drawn on Sept. 9.
To enter the residents’ draw, fans must show at the time of ballot submission one piece of proof of residence showing they live in North Saanich, Central Saanich or Sidney.
All entrants must be 19 or older and answer (without help) a time-limited, mathematical, skill-testing question at the time of ballot submission.
For further details and conditions, go online to crd.bc.ca/panorama.
